Much of the language of rosarians reflects a certain minacious and controlling quality. Rosarians engage in forceful direction of the growth and development of roses through the activities associated with good grooming and exhibition. Regularly, rose growers attempt to push the envelope in forcing roses to grow in inhospitable and even hostile climates. There are those who attempt to force roses to grow in topiary shapes like cloverleaf highway onramps. Who is so free of guilt in this regard that roses have not been pruned to account for errors in taste, judgment, and ignorance? [1]

Thus, it was with some anticipation and foreboding that I saw a book on roses entitled: Making Roses Behave by A.E. Albera [2]. Information about the author is not easily obtainable; a Google search revealed that he had won the Rosedale trophy (five Hybrid Teas exhibited in separate vases) in l959 and authored an article in the American Rose Annual of 1949. However, the Google search was otherwise unhelpful. The 1949 article basically took the position that no matter what you do to roses, they keep on growing anyway. This position was not repudiated in the 1960 book, as it referenced alternative ways of growing roses. Nevertheless, the book echoes sentiments associated with that more vigorous era.

Thus, Albera's attitude toward strong and weak plants is to feed the former and starve the latter. The withholding of nutrients from the weak plant is aphorized by a line from Hamlet: 'Thy dull ass will not mend his pace by beating' (p. 65). The rationale for feeding strong plants is that they require more feeding. Replacing weak and inferior plants naturally follows upon such observation. There is also an assumption that 'hybridization has caused them to advance to the stage of supreme excellence.' (page. 15.) The author eschews creating a list of preferred roses because few of them retain their popularity long enough to warrant such a list.

The exuberance of the era includes praise for the rose show as the most popular method for educating the public about the rose and notes that the ranks of the American Rose Society and the Royal National Rose Society have been swelled by great numbers of new members and adherents. However, "Making Roses Behave' recognizes that some deception occurs because ordinary gardeners are led to believe that they can obtain blooms equal to those in rose shows, even though the process conceals the fact that many of the rose bushes producing such exceptional blooms only do so under nearly perfect conditions on otherwise ungainly plants constantly on the verge of death.

Albera's writing style is clear and unambiguous and the book contains one of the best explanations of why purchasers should avoid bare root plants in cellophane with chlorotic sproutings—because the nutrients of the plant have already been consumed and exhausted in growth that has no future once the bush is planted. But the book also makes it clear that the rose is to exist for the benefit of the rosarian, not the reverse.

To a greater or lesser degree this attitude is still the prevalent one among many rosarians today. Nor is there any reason that there should be shame or dishonor attached to it; it is consistent with the ancient Biblical dictum that the earth and its treasures were created for the benefit of man, and certainly roses are among the most valued of earthly treasures.

At the other end of the spectrum in this regard would be the accommodationists, those who regard it as their duty to permit the rose to progress to its natural glory without excessive interference in the developmental process. Note that the foregoing description does not include those professional rosicides who slay through neglect or calculated ignorance. The duty of the accommodationist is to assist the rose in its foreordained path. Perhaps the best example of the accomodationalists would be those who preface pruning activities by communing with the rose to let the rose 'speak' to its needs. This momentary exchange may result in almost no pruning whatsoever to speak of; or, perhaps with a minimum reduction of the plant. After all, if it takes some 35 leaves to produce a rose, maximizing foliage for bloom may preclude carnage when the forsythia blooms.

This notion of accommodating the rose seems to be more prevalent among those who grow a wider variety of roses, especially Old Garden Roses. Perhaps this is because of the need to be aware of the differences in the classes ranging from the tendency of Teas to sulk if overly pruned, or the speed with which Chinas recover from a basic 'butch' haircut of pruning. But, in fairness, it should be noted that among this group, there is always information about particular modern cultivars being shared—that descendants of 'Grey Pearl' are especially susceptible to decay through inadvertent drying out or some odd genetic 'death wish,' or that 'Brandy' dislikes being hard pruned in the deadheading process.

The individual idiosyncrasies of particular roses seem to elicit more attention and interest among this group of rosarians. This is not meant to imply that the accommodationists are any less active or proactive in the care of roses, but rather that the attitude toward interaction tends to be more facilitative rather than directive. Someone in this school of rosarians might well be more diligent in disbudding in the early stages of growth in order to assure a healthier plant later than in disbudding for reasons of grooming. In the choice between larger blooms and more blooms those who master the growing of roses would choose the former and those who facilitate would choose the latter.

It would be a mistake to equate these antipodal attitudes with the war between those who use petrochemicals and those who favor more organic approaches. Because even if every petrochemical advance were abolished tomorrow, these basic approaches to mastery versus accommodation would survive and prosper. But then so would the rose. A sentiment with which the Albera of l949 would have agreed.

1. In the interests of truth in advertising, I must confess that a mistake early in my rosarian career led to a siting of Yellow Lady Banks at the juncture of two paths. Subsequent years featured quarterly tussles over growth patterns; I still have pictures of the annual spring splendor.

2. Making Roses Behave by A.E. Albera (Borden Publishing Co, Los Angeles: 1960). This book is available through the Internet at prices ranging from $8.00 to $15.00.